LIVE MIGRATION OF VIRTUAL MACHINES WITH MEMORY STATE SHARING

• US 20150378766A1
• Filed: 12/31/2014
• Published: 12/31/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: BEVERIDGE, Daniel James, TARASUK-LEVIN, Gabriel
• Granted Patent: US 9,626,212 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/08 in hierarchically structured memory systems, e.g. virtual memory systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/273 Asynchronous replication or reconciliation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/4557 Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45583 Memory management, e.g. access or allocation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/152 Virtualized environment, e.g. logically partitioned system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0647 Migration mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4856 resumption being on a different machine, e.g. task migration, virtual machine migration G06F9/5088 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5088 involving task migration
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Embodiments described herein rapidly migrate child virtual machines (VM) by leveraging shared memory resources between parent and child VMs. In a first, proactive phase, parent VMs are migrated to a plurality of potential target hosts. In a second, reactive phase, after a request is received to migrate a child VM to a selected target host, memory blocks that are unique to the child VM are migrated to the selected target host. In some examples, memory blocks are compressed and decompressed as needed. In other examples, the operation environment is modified. Aspects of the disclosure offer a high performance, resource efficient solution that outperforms traditional approaches in areas of software compatibility, stability, quality of service control, resource utilization, and more.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a memory area associated with a computing device, said memory area storing memory blocks; and

a processor programmed to;

transfer one or more memory blocks from a parent virtual machine (VM) to one or more target hosts;

receive a request to migrate a child VM associated with the parent VM;

identify one or more memory blocks in the child VM that are unique to the child VM; and

transfer the one or more identified memory blocks to the one or more target hosts.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to compress the one or more identified memory blocks before the one or more identified memory blocks are transferred to the one or more target hosts.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to compress the one or more identified memory blocks on a wide area network.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to:

transfer the one or more identified blocks to the parent VM on the one or more target hosts for execution thereon.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to:

receive a request to decompress a first portion of the one or more identified blocks;

selectively decompress the first portion of the one or more identified blocks during a first phase.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor is programmed to decompress a second portion of the one or more identified blocks at a predetermined rate during a second phase.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to fork the child VM from the parent VM, the one or more memory blocks identified based on one or more activities associated with the child VM after being forked.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to:

halt an execution of a script at the parent VM; and

resume execution of the script at the child VM, the one or more memory blocks identified based on the resumed execution of the script.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to monitor the child VM for a triggering event, the request to migrate the child VM received based on the triggering event.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to identify the one or more target hosts based on predetermined criteria.

11. A method for live migration with memory state sharing, said method comprising:

transferring one or more memory blocks from a parent virtual machine (VM) to one or more target hosts;

receiving a request to migrate a child VM associated with the parent VM;

identifying one or more memory blocks in the child VM that are unique to the child VM; and

transferring the one or more identified memory blocks to the one or more target hosts.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising compressing the one or more identified memory blocks on a wide area network before the one or more identified memory blocks are transferred to the one or more target hosts.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving a request to decompress a first portion of the one or more identified blocks;

selectively decompressing the first portion of the one or more identified blocks during a first phase.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising decompressing a second portion of the one or more identified blocks at a predetermined rate during a second phase.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

halting an execution of a script at the parent VM; and

resuming execution of the script at the child VM, the one or more memory blocks identified based on the resumed execution of the script.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising monitoring the child VM for a triggering event, the request to migrate the child VM received based on the triggering event.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising identifying the one or more target hosts based on predetermined criteria.

18. One or more computer-readable storage media including computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to:

transfer one or more memory blocks from a parent virtual machine (VM) to one or more target hosts;

receive a request to migrate a child VM associated with the parent VM;

identify one or more memory blocks in the child VM that are unique to the child VM; and

transfer the one or more identified memory blocks to the one or more target hosts.

19. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 18, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause at least one processor to compress the one or more identified memory blocks before the one or more identified memory blocks are transferred to the one or more target hosts.

20. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 18, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause at least one processor to:

selectively decompress a first portion of the one or more identified blocks during a first phase; and

decompress a second portion of the one or more identified blocks at a predetermined rate during a second phase.